就短對話部分而言，這次考試總體難度比往年也略有增加，主要體現在其句長和用詞兩個方面。整個10段對話中幾乎沒有一個人的話是少于10個單詞的。而且也出現了一些很少在聽力中出現的難詞，諸如：第5題的swing, 第9題的question作動詞，第9題的terrorist,第9題的incredible，第10題的recruit, 第10題的resume等等。但就總體技巧而言，除了這些難詞的障礙，也的確從未走出以往考試技巧的圈子，所以說它色厲內荏實不為過，但正是這個色厲卻很有可能嚇倒了無數的考生，從而連透過現象聽本質的能力都喪失了，因此下文就這次考試的10題進行一個簡單分析，希望能起到為眾多考生撥云見日、指點迷津。

　　1.W: Carol told us on the phone not to worry about her. Her left leg doesnt hurt as much as it did yesterday.

　　M: Shed better have it examined by a doctor anyway. And Ill call her about it this evening.

　　Q: What does the man think Carol should do?

　　本題從女人話中的left leg以及hurt可以明顯知道這是我們常考的醫療健康場景，而在男人的回應中明顯出現了Shed better一詞，作為建議句型的提示信息出現，標明答案所在。以往考試中也反復考察，筆者在對2005年6月考試中也對此作了詳細分析，這里不再贅述。本題答案：See a doctor。

　　2. M: Theres a non-stop train for Washington, and it leaves at 2:30.

　　W: Its faster than the 2:00 train. Besides, we can have something to eat before getting on the train.

　　Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

　　本題通過男人話中的train可知為交通場景。而火車在以往考試中的負面特色往往為：誤點、慢、伙食差等幾個方面。本題對兩列火車作出比較，通過女人口中的faster和have something to eat before getting on即可簡單知道2：30分的車較之2：00的車，解決了慢以及伙食差兩大問題，所以本題答案自然是：The woman prefers the 2:30 train.

　　3. M: Hi, Melissa, hows your project going? Have you thought about going to graduate school? Perhaps you can get into Harvard.

　　W: Everything is coming along really well. Ive been thinking about graduate school. But Ill talk to my tutor Dr. Gauthier first and see what she thinks.

　　Q: What do we learn about the woman from the conversation?

　　本題通過男人的project一詞即可推斷為學習場景。而在男人對女人反復發問后女人的回答自然重要，而女人回答中的but一詞，無數次證明了答案之所在，可謂重要中之尤其重要者。如果能在平時加強對but這類小詞的聽力敏感度，可謂百試不爽。所以本題答案為Shell consult Dr. Garcia about entering graduate school.

　　值得一提的是，本題答案中那個consult其實也是個詞組詞匯的考點，因此對不認識該單詞的同學來說，也是一大困惑。就本題答案本身而言，用排除法還是不難的。但另一個選項中也考察了一個詞組詞匯，而且考的還是一詞多意，那就是選項中的She has been longing to attend Harvard University.其中的long表示渴望的意思。

　　4. W: Did you attend Alices presentation last night? Its the first time for her to give a speech to a large audience.

　　M: How she could be so calm in front of so many people is really beyond me.

　　Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

　　本題也能同過presentation一詞推斷為學習場景，從而加快對對話的理解。而本題考察的事實上是反問句式，雖然形式上來說這只是個帶主語從句的陳述句，但究其根本會發現，男人的表達就是一個反問式的感嘆：How could she be so calm in front of so many people?他在那么多人面前怎么會這么鎮定?!而就本題答案而言，也完全符合以往考題中的男生緊張女生從容的特點，使其規律化也變得明朗起來。 本題答案為：Alice didnt seem to be nervous during her speech.

　　5. W: Youve been doing weather reports for nearly thirty years. Hows the weather got anywhere in all those years?

　　M: well, not necessarily worse, but were seeing more swings.

　　Q: What does the man say about the weather?

　　本題通過weather reports推測為天氣場景，之后緊跟一特殊疑問句，而特殊疑問的內容一般可以通過回答推測，而且也缺乏重點，因此一般都可以忽略。本題也同樣適用這一技巧。而男人回答中的but無疑又給疑無路的考生指明了那柳暗花明的又一村。但之后就體現了這次考試的一個很大特點，就是聽力原文中的難詞：本題中的swing并沒太多和天氣有關的內容，所以通過其本意和上下文可知，其意思為搖擺不定、大起大落的意思。而答案中只有more extremes一詞與此對應。但通過上下文也能推測該答案。男人前句說到不見得真的變差了，后文又用but轉折，說明還是有不好的地方，因此容易排除選項中的：Its worse than 30 years ago. 和It remains almost the same as before. 把答案限定到剩下兩個，而其中溫度上升的選項從未提及，所以通過排除也可以得到正確答案。本題答案為：There are more extremes in the weather.

　　6. M: Excuse me, Im looking for the textbook by Professor Jordan for the marketing course?

　　W: Im afraid its out of stock. Youll have to order it. And it will take the publisher three weeks to send it to us.

　　Q: Where did this conversation most probably take place?

　　本題通過文中的找textbook可知是個和書有關的場景，而四級中一般出現書籍，可大致推測屬于買賣場景。到這里基本就能做題了，知道該說話人在書店。但保險起見可以往下看一下。女人的話中out of stock，即沒有庫存的意思，也同樣容易指向書店的特點，當然閱覽室借完了也勉強湊合，但再往下的order則絕對排除了閱覽室的可能，因為order表示預定買的意思。最后那句中的publisher send又排除了出版社的可能。所以本題答案為：At the book store.

　　7. M: Im going to New York next week, but the hotel I booked is really expensive.

　　W: Why book a hotel? My brother has two spare rooms in his apartment.

　　Q: What does the woman mean?

　　本題考點在于原因解釋。而本題基本就是往年考題的再現。比如05年6月第10題：

　　M: This article is nothing but advertising for housing developers. I dont think the houses for sale are half that good.

　　W: Come on, David. Why so negative? We are thinking of buying a home, arent we? Just a trip to look at the place wont cist us much.

　　Q: What can be inferred form the conversation?

　　再如03年1月考題第5題：

　　M: Hurry. Theres a bus coming!

　　W: Why run? There will be another one in two or three minutes.

　　可以說這些題目如出一轍，考察時則可以考察反問句所表示的建議，也可以考察后半句的解釋說明。本題就是對后半句解釋說明的考察。本題答案為：The man can stay at her brothers apartment.

　　8. W: In my opinion, watching the news on TV is a good way to learn English. What do you think?

　　M: It would be better if you could check the same information in English newspapers afterwards.

　　Q: What does the man say about learning English?

　　本題為一個建議型的表達，用的是if表原因的形式。而if這個小詞也正是我們四級考試的重點，無時無處不提醒著我們答案的出現。此處男人的話的意思說：如果在那之后你能在英語報紙上看看相同的信息就更好了。言下之意：現在還不夠完美的原因是你還沒看報紙。所以考察的部分是男人認為現在不夠完善的原因，當然，從字面上也可以理解為一個建議。無論是原因也好，建議也罷，都是我們四級考試的重點內容，所以本題一如既往地考察了這個知識點。本題答案為：Its more effective to combine listening with reading.

　　9. M: I hear a newly invented drug can make people tell the truth. And it may prove useful in questioning terrorists. Isnt it incredible?

　　W: Simple solutions to complex problems rarely succeed. As far as I know, no such drugs are ever known to work.

　　Q: What does the woman think of the new drug?

　　本題考察第一大難度就是詞匯本身，用作動詞質問的question、恐怖分子terrorist以及無法讓人相信的incredible都是高端詞匯，用于聽力中對考生一定會有較大干擾。而本題考察重點在于女人的態度，所以這是一題態度考察題，考察了女人對讓人說實話的藥品的態度。女人話中的第一句就可以作為參考，但是卻難在一個近音詞匯rarely上，對該詞不熟悉的同學很可能聽成really，在這樣的情況下，反而得到了截然相反的答案。女人后半句對前半句作出解釋，完全可以認為是在as far as I know之前加個because，所以可以認為是個省略了提示信息的原因部分，而這個部分也可以作為答案的支持出現。而現在省略關系詞的句子在聽力中的考察是越來越多了，需要考生通過實際能力推測句子間關系來完成解題。因此，本題答案為：It will most likely prove ineffective.

　　值得一題的是，本答案中的likely一詞也預示著本答案的正確性，因為該詞為一相對性描述詞匯，在以往考試中也曾經出現過，如03年1月第1題正確答案：They are likely to have dinner together.

　　10. M: You know the electronics company is coming to our campus to recruit graduate students next week.

　　W: Really? What day? Id like to talk to them and hand in my resume.

　　Q: What does the woman want to do?

　　本題有相當的難詞出現考察詞組詞匯考點。其中recruit則是一般考生都無法聽懂的一個詞，表示招收。本題通過company和campus可以大致了解是個公司到學校招聘的問題。而考點卻不在這里，在女人的話中最后那個詞resume.該詞一般考生都會認為是重新開始的意思，但在這里卻考查了一個法語發音，意思為簡歷。雖然可以認為是個生僻詞匯，但作為一個大學生，面臨以后的工作抉擇，這樣的詞還是必須的。 而且東方課堂上說到找工作場景時，這也是個不可缺少的重要詞匯，相信只要對該單詞有所熟悉的同學，這題得來全不費功夫吧。本題答案為：Apply for a job in the electronics company.

　　綜上種種，雖現象千奇百怪、句長年年有長，然考點依舊、技巧長存。只要做到真題腦中過，方法心中留，到了考場上自然臨危不懼、游刃有余、收放自如，真正達到無極的境界。最后祝所有同學圣誕快樂，元旦圓滿。

　　2005年12月四級聽力考試Passage部分解析

　　上海學校 四六級聽力、詞匯、寫作明星教師 陳文笠

　　對于PASSAGE部分，雖然難度也比以往有所加大，尤其體現在難詞的使用上，以及題材的選擇上，然而它一如既往地繼承了以往考試的種種特點和思路。

　　首先，三篇文章都以說明文的形式出現，正如筆者在對2005年6月的PASSAGE題的分析中提出的：對于聽力短文部分，本次考試三篇文章以長度遞增順序排布，而題量則按照3、4、3的順序安排，3篇文章都以說明文的體裁出現。，這已經成了現在四級考試聽力PASSAGE部分的一個趨勢了。當然，雖然是以說明文的形式出現，文章中記敘、議論的內容也時有出現，所以更精確的說，現在的文章形式是越來越綜合的。

　　其次，文章的復雜度并為影響到出題的思路與解體的思維模式。出題點仍偏愛文章開頭與結尾，文章中比較典型的、比較重要的分支結構，以及轉折關系、因果關系的表達。下文將對本次考試的3篇文章分別作這方面的詳細分析：

　　Passage One

　　A new study reports the common drug aspirin greatly reduces life-threatening problems after an operation to replace blocked blood vessels to the heart. More than 800,000 people around the world have this heart surgery each year. The doctors who carried out the study say giving aspirin to patients soon after the operation could save thousands of lives. People usually take aspirin to control pain, and reduce high body temperature. Doctors also advise some people to take aspirin to help prevent heart attacks. About 10~15% of these heart operations end in death or damage to the heart or other organs. The new study shows that even a small amount of aspirin reduced such threats. The doctors said the chance of death for patients who took aspirin would fall by 67%. They claimed this was true if the aspirin was given within 48 hours of the operation. The doctors believe aspirin helps heart surgery patients because it can prevent blood from thickening, and blood vessels from being blocked. However, the doctors warned that people who have stomach bleeding or other bad reactions from aspirin should not take it after heart surgery.

　　Questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　11. What is the finding of the new study of aspirin?

　　12. In what way can aspirin help heart surgery patients according to the doctors?

　　13. What warning did the doctors give about the use of aspirin?

　　文章本身閱讀難度較大，因為牽涉到一些學術詞匯的運用，諸如：blood vessel, organ, heart surgery, blood thickening, stomach bleeding等。但就考點本身而言卻難度適中，甚至可以說非常循規蹈矩。

　　第11題提問的就是文章開頭第一句的部分，對應詞為New Study，而且也是本文說明對象之所在，而文章主旨、說明對象等一直就是往年考說明議論型文章的重心，而且也是文章中會反復涉及的內容，因此比較容易把握。答案為：It reduces the chance of death for heart surgery patients.

　　第12題問及的是阿斯匹林如何幫助做過心臟手術的病人，看似是個方法，其實在原文中仍然以原因的形式表達，在原文倒數第二句中，Because明顯指示第二題的答案。此即為因果考察點。答案為：It keeps blood vessels from being blocked.

　　第13題考察位置出現在文章末句，也是以往出題的重點位置之一，而考察點則為轉折后的內容。根據常識我們知道，幾乎任何醫療行為都會有副作用，而任何醫藥說明或醫生囑咐的最后一句一般都是經過轉折后產生的對該副作用的提醒以及避免方法的說明。這里的However也很明確的指示了答案的鮮明特征。此即為轉折考察點。答案為：It is harmful to heart surgery patients with stomach bleeding.

　　Passage Two

　　When you are the first or last child in your family, or, when you are middle or only child, some people think it matters where you are born in your family. But there are different ideas about what birth order means. Some people say that the oldest children are smart and strong willed, and they are very likely to be successful. The reason for this is simple: parents have a lot of time for that first child. They give him or her a lot of attention. So this child is very likely to do well. An only child will succeed for the same reason. What happens to the other children in the family? Middle children dont get so much attention. So they dont feel that important. If a family has many children, the middle one sometimes gets lost in the crowd. The youngest child then, often gets special treatment. He or she is the baby. Often this child grows up with funny and charming. Do you believe this idea about birth order, too? A recent study saw things quite differently. The study found that first children believed in family rules. They didnt take many chances in their lives. They usually followed orders. Rules didnt mean as much to late children in a family. They went out and followed their own ideas. They took chances and they often did better in lives.

　　Questions 14 to 16 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　14. According to common belief, in what way are the first and the only child alike?

　　15. What do people usually say about middle children?

　　16. What do we learn about later children in the family from a recent study of birth order?

　　解釋了孩子因出生順序不同而形成的不同特征，與日后人生之影響。本文是屬于詞匯角度而言，三篇中相對容易的一篇了。但其寫作手法有一定難度，是以比較的方法來描述了這些孩子特征的不同點，所以自然也就以比較性的問題為突出。但作為這次考試的第二篇，其出題難度還不及第三篇，而其比較行內容也只有第14題是兩方面都涉及的，而其他兩題都只涉及比較的一方，因此解體思路類似以往的學校教育類文章和風土人情類文章，找差異就成了其考察核心。

　　第14題，考察了家中第一個孩子和唯一孩子的共性，是一題綜合考察比較雙方的題目。雖然從題型上來看有一定難度，但考察點仍然是因果關系， 文中涉及到理由The reason的那句加上So的支持，使之成為了我們第一題的答案位置。答案為：They are very likely to succeed in life.

　　第15題，考察了中間出生的孩子的特征，同樣以一個So為中介，表現了其中的原委。因此這又是一個因果類型的題目。答案為：They get less attention from their parents.

　　第16題，壓軸在文章最后一句，題目難度也相應改變，一眼掃去，除了結尾這一明顯特點外，似乎考點并不明顯。這里考察了研究結果中后期出生的孩子的特點。雖然沒有明顯的關聯詞，但不難發現，這一點是和前一句中家中最早出生的孩子形成鮮明對比的部分，其實也就是省略了我們寫在括號里的那個However，這類題在以往考察短對話中也時有見到省略轉折詞或原因詞的。